Raise Havoc Run Amuck

I opened my email this evening to find the below:

Dear Ann K. Gwinnup,
This is to notify you that your entry into the 113th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, 2009 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

Yay! Now I’ve only 2 more marathons before Boston!
My next one is in 3 weeks. My last 20 miler was yesterday. Hence I’ve now entered that frightening time known as “the taper.” This is when I gradually run fewer and fewer miles so that I can rest up for race day.
A side benefit is that I go a bit nuts and drive the family crazy. For example...
I was trying to decide what socks to wear for the marathon (I long ago picked out my top and skirt), and was worrying that my chosen pair has 127 miles on them, when I’d really like to have them closer to 100 (preferably under, though). Maybe I should buy a new pair... but then it’s only 27 extra miles, and if I bought a new pair now I couldn’t do a long run in them, since my max run will be 12 miles next weekend....
And then there’s my pace tattoo (it’s a temporary tattoo that goes on your forearm with anticipated time at each mile marker so that you can track where you are with respect to your goal pace). The fact that they even exist is pretty type A. But still, I picked up two of them at my last marathon - and then used the 3:45 for that race. This leaves me only the 3:40. Hopefully I’ll find another at the expo... otherwise I might have to run 3:40.
And lastly in my taper musings, Brooks (running gear company) is offering a “VIP” portapotty for any runner wearing Brooks Marine Corps marathon gear (or Brooks shoes, but I run in Mizunos, and have for my last 6 pairs of running shoes. I fear change). So, now I have to decide if I think the lines will be so long pre-race that it’s worth shelling out 20 bucks for a pair of socks (that I won’t get to run in before the race - aack!) so that I can gain entry to the hallowed portapotty. (It will have actual running water and soap - but more importantly, it will hopefully have no line). But then I hear that the “Charity Village” for the runners running for a charity may have it’s own bank of portapotties. I could email the Team Fisher House coordinator to confirm, but somehow I don’t think normal people worry about portapotty lines 3 weeks ahead of time...
And this is just the beginning of taper madness. Those of you that really don’t want to know how nuts I really am may want to avert your eyes for the next 3 weeks!